Page 17 of Violet Moon
“Then let’s make something together,” Jo suggested.
Wilma’s smile broadened, fondness in her gaze as she looked around the table at her pack.“We could maybe do something with clay?I have more than enough left over.”
The pack took off in another round of too-loud, overlapping conversations.The remnants of dinner were forgotten as they formed plans.The noise followed the pack out of the dining room as they left to go celebrate Wil, leaving just Sera and Parisa back at the table.
“At least they remembered to grab their dishes first.”Sera leaned back against her chair.
“I’d expect nothing less from our pack.”Parisa waited until she had Sera’s attention to continue.“They carry our name well.All of them.”She stood.“Everyone does their part to put the pack before all else and it shows.No matter what, the pack comes first.”
“Of course it does.”
Parisa stared off in the distance and continued to have a conversation with herself.“If one of us wasn’t here or at our best, if someone was missing, the others would pick up the slack and the pack would carry on.”
“We could never carry on seamlessly if someone was missing.Every single one of us matters.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Sera flinched.
“I mean that no matter what happens, this pack will endure.”With that, Parisa walked out of the room.
Sera stared at her empty plate.What was Parisa talking about?Were they not all essential to this pack, this family?Who wasn’t at their best?
Herself.Sera had no idea what her best was.She tried, but there were more times than not where Wilma stepped in to do something Sera had forgotten or Parisa had to remind her to do one of her tasks.She handled a lot but she always felt like she could be good at one of three things: she could be a good friend to Parisa, she could run the business well, or she could be a big sister to the pack, but never all three at once.If she got too friendly with the pack, the Beta and business side of her suffered.If she spent all her time at the bakery, her relationships suffered.It was a game, and not one she ever felt like she was winning.
Sera huffed out a laugh alone in the big room.She was vain, too, for thinking Parisa meant her when it could have been anything.She wasn’t on Parisa’s mind twenty-four hours a day and she’d do well to remember that.
six
Serastoppedshortbeforeshe reached Parisa’s office.Her Alpha wasn’t alone.She held a tiny bouquet of freshly-clipped pansies in her hand and rapped her knuckles on the door.
Wilma was already there.Of course their new Gamma would be a part of their afternoon meeting but she couldn’t shake the sense that her entire day was thrown off now.
Sera opened the door and sat down in a different chair because Wilma was in hers.Parisa had her planner and notebooks out on her desk.Wilma had a binder with bright, colorful tabs that was way more organized than Sera’s red binder full of messy receipts and requests.
Her Alpha paused, noticing the pansies Sera had placed on her desk.
“What sweet, precious things,” Parisa said, placing them in a small vase.Their stems were barely long enough to reach the water line.“This tangerine color is divine.It makes me want to go change into that orange dress I have.That’d certainly turn some heads in the bakery.”
Sera kept glancing between Wilma and Parisa, wondering how she was supposed to act now.When it was just her and Parisa, it was okay to act relaxed around one another, but now she felt like she was on a stage.
“You always turn heads in the bakery without trying,” Sera joked, but she felt the tips of her ears getting red, and she couldn’t seem to get comfortable in this chair.
“I do turn heads with the stern, silent stares that make everyone feel unsettled.Yes, I’d agree with that.”Parisa chuckled.“I provide excellent sweets and treats and subpar customer service.”
Sera caught Wilma’s gaze and the new Gamma dipped her head in a quick nod of respect.Sera toyed with the peeling edge of her binder.
“We were just going over a few bakery needs,” Parisa explained.“Don’t worry.There’s still lots to attend to.”
Wilma perked up at that, tapping her pen on her open binder.“We should dive into the bakery schedule.There’s been a lot of shift trading lately and I looked at who switched when and looked for a pattern.I have a few theories.”
“Couldn’t we just ask them?”Sera asked.
“I hadn’t thought of that, honestly.But this is easier and gets around conversations where you might not get direct responses.”
It was a very Wilma approach.“Let’s hear what you figured out.”
As the meeting stretched on far longer than usual, there were plenty of times when Parisa and Wilma were speaking and Sera felt as though she could leave the room and it wouldn't matter.
